Veteran Iranians regretting Asian Games postponement
he postponement of Septem er’s angzhou 2022 sian Games offers more time and space for preparation for some athletes across the continent. owever, for some, fast approaching the twilight of their careers, the Olympic Council of sia’s decision to push ack the event y a year – amid the rising num er of coronavirus cases in host China – might mean a lown opportunity for a well-deserved farewell. ranian chef de mission Payman akhri said on Saturday that a new date for the event is hanging in the alance as holding the Games ne t summer will interrupt a hectic schedule for the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification tournaments. akhri’s remarks mean that the old guard of the ranian sport might never get the chance to taste success at the second-largest multi-sport event in the world. ranian discus throw sensation hsan addadi pro a ly is most disappointed with the postponement news. he most decorated ranian in the history of the Games with four golds, the 37-year-old would have seen the event as a perfect occasion to call time on his illustrious career, which includes a London 2012 Olympic silver and a 2011 world ronze. ranian men’s karate captain a ihollah Pourshei , 34, was seeking a third sian Games medal in angzhou to add to his 2010 gold and the ronze in 2018. hree-time world champion missed out on participation at last year’s Olympics – due to the world karate governing ody’s complicated regulations – despite securing a quota for okyo. hat’s pretty much the same story for Pourshei ’s opposite num er in the women’s team amideh as- li. n eight-time sian champion, as- li, who has een hit with a torn ligament twice in the past two years, hoped to ounce ack after having an under-par campaign at the okyo Olympics. t 37 years of age, ranian center guard amed addadi, pro a ly the est ranian asket all player over the past two decades, could have had a last-ditch shot at the ultimate prize at the Games, having won ack-to- ack silvers with the country in 2014 and 2018 and a ronze in oha 2006. ith a new head coach of the national team set to e appointed within ne t few weeks, addadi might have already made his last appearance in the ranian outfit. Mohsen Mohammad-seifi, 32, winner of three wushu golds at the sian Games, had reportedly decided to em ark on a career in the mi ed martial arts following the event in China, ut the future is now uncertain for the fivetime world gold medalist. ranian weightlifters Sohra Moradi and ianoush ostami, who share three Olympic medals etween them, would have also eyed the sian Games as an opportunity to make amends for a disappointing couple of years, which saw oth fail to seal a erth for the okyo Olympics.